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Saturday,
March 9, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Stage set for battle of titans India stumble to 10th position
WORLD CUP DIARY |
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Pak struggling to avoid innings loss Aussies maintain stranglehold on SA
Team for final
1-dayers on March 13 Karthik notches up valuable 69 TN demolish Rajasthan Vikas Prashar, Navjot fastest
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Stage set for battle of titans
Kuala Lumpur, March 8 With the best record in the current edition of the World Cup, Australia appear to have a slight edge if yesterday’s performance against the Dutch is any indication. The ferocity of the Australian attacks left the Dutch gasping for breath and maintaining the tempo continuously was one of the factors which put Barry Dancer’s team in the final. Germany, too, are no pushovers. They have the stamina and endurance to take on the mighty on any given day. With skipper Florian Kunz rediscovering his form of late, Germany, tipped as favourites, are eyeing their maiden gold. Australia had last won the gold at London in the sixth edition. The team then led by Charlesworth had beaten England 2-1 in the final. The Australians had scored 31 goals in 1986 and had conceded only seven. In the current edition, Australia have so far scored the maximum 32 goals while conceding seven. Craig Victory, Troy Elder, Jeremy Hiskins, Matthew Smith, Scott Webster and Matthew Wells are some of the names who have mesmerised the crowds here for the past nine days. In goalkeeper Lachlan Dreher, the Australians have a world class player whose brilliant saves have ensured that the team conceded the least number of goals. If the scorching pace as demonstrated against the Dutch yesterday is maintained, the Germans may indeed find the going tough. Germany, who have never won the gold, see it as the best opportunity to enter the record books. Their hopes rest with skipper Kunz, penalty corner specialist Michael Green, and opportunist Oliver Domke. Another key figure in the German line-up is Bjorn Michel, who along with Christoph Bechmann and Matthias Withaus has been achieving success upfront. On the whole, the contest will be a keen affair with the two teams prepared to go all out for gold in the millennium’s first World Cup. With Germany on the threshold of history and Australia in sight of a second gold after 16 years, it was time for mind games between the two finalists on the eve of the lug today. The Germans sought to play down their favourites’ tag as coach Bernhard Peters praised the fast and aggressive game of the opponents. The breathtaking speed displayed by the Australians against the Netherlands yesterday was highlighted by Peters time and again. German captain Florian Kunz was also all praise for the Australians. “ They play very fast and aggressive hockey. Their zone marking has been good. Our defence will definitely be under a lot of pressure going by the Australians’ current form,” Kunz told The Tribune. Australian coach Barry Dancer, on the other hand, said Germany were in fine form and all along kept their favourites’ tag intact. It will definitely not be easy to restrict them, he said. Meanwhile, the heavy schedule of the World Cup has attracted criticism and the FIH decision to reduce the number of contestants to 12 for the next World Cup has been appreciated. German coach Bernhard Peters and skipper Florian Kunz said the current schedule was too hard on the players. Kunz said it was also not advisable medically to play under such hot and humid conditions. “ The midfielders bear thr brunt and it is too exhausting,” he said.
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India stumble to 10th position
Kuala Lumpur, march 8 Having taken the lead in the 10th minute through junior world cupper Deepak Thakur who scored a brilliant field goal following a long hit by defender Lazarus Barla, the Indians failed to build on the advantage and a slackened pace in the second half put paid to their aspirations of finishing ninth, the position held in the last edition at Utrecht. In the second half, New Zealand came back strongly and capitalised on the chances as well as the lethargy of the opponents. It was in the 59th minute that New Zealand found the equaliser when Ryan Archibald sounded the boards with a powerful hit off a penalty corner. India did try to wrest the initiative once again but skipper Baljit Dhillon, Daljit and Dhanraj Pillay, who incidentally came as a substitute in the 47th minute, failed to beat the New Zealand defence. With six minutes remaining for the match to end, New Zealand found the match winner through another penalty corner conversion by Phillip Burrows making it 2-1. Both sides had four shots each at the goal and were also awarded three penalty corners each. Pakistan chalked out a 5-3 win over Argentina after the two teams were level 2-2 at half time.The victory ensured fifth position for Pakistan, the position last held at Utrecht. Argentina took the lead in the 11th minute through Jorge Lombi off a short corner but thereafter Pakistan hit back with two quick goals through Ali Raja and Sohail Abbas in the 22nd and 24th minutes, both off short corners. Argentina scored two more through Fernando Zylberberg and Jorge Lombi, the first a field goal and the second off a penlty stroke, to make it 3-2. Thereafter, Pakistan scored three goals through Sohail Abbas, Muhammed Nadeem and Kashif Jawad to send the Argentinians packing by a 5-3 margin.
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WORLD
CUP DIARY “Although getting home this time was not the best of homecomings, I am now with the most important people in my life — my family. I am fortunate enough to have a fantastic support group, with my loved ones who have stood by me unconditionally. I will accept this debacle in a manner befitting a true sportsman.” This message from Indian hockey coach Cedric D’Souza, who was asked to hand over charge midway through the World Cup, was received in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Cedric also lauded the role of the media in “exposing and narrating the truthful facts”. He said the way the whole episode was tackled by the media “speaks wonders for your professionalism and integrity. Public outcry and the support bestowed upon me has been overwhelming,” he added.
*** With the World Cup scheduled to come to an end tomorrow, it was a busy day for players, officials and the media in the Malaysian capital today. The finalists, Germany and Australia, held conferences to evaluate their performances and reframe strategies. The Asian Hockey Federation held its 33rd meeting at the Concorde. The German Hockey Association made a presentation on the forthcoming Champions Trophy to be held in Germany. Players took time off for shopping but for the Pakistani squad, Friday prayers were the top priority.
*** The New Zealand-Japan match yesterday was the only match which stretched to sudden death in the World Cup. The keenly contested match for 9-12 positions was also marred by a controversy. With the score tied 3-3 at the end of regulation time, the match went into extra time and later sudden death. However, the fifth stroke taken by Japan was initially disallowed which led to a brief interruption as the Japanese pleaded for the goal. Luckily, the umpire soon reverted his decision and allowed the goal but while taking the seventh stroke, the Japanese faltered again and paid the price.
*** The president of the Indian Hockey Federation, Mr KPS Gill, today scoffed all rumours about appointment of a foreign coach for the Indian team. Reports in this regard have been doing the rounds here for the past few days. “We have enough coaches,” Mr Gill said here today while talking to The Tribune. |
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Pak struggling to avoid innings loss
Lahore, March 8 Requiring 294 runs to make Sri Lanka bat again, Pakistan were thankful play was called off seven overs early in near darkness. Gloomy weather forced the floodlights to be switched on as early as 6.1 overs into the Pakistan second innings. Earlier Pakistan paceman Mohammad Sami took a hat-trick either side of lunch as Sri Lanka lost their last six wickets for 81 to total 528, their highest total against Pakistan. Sami became the third Pakistani bowler to take a hat-trick after Wasim Akram (twice) and Abdul Razzaq. Pakistan lost Shahid Afridi for 70, Yousaf Youhana for seven and Abdul Razzaq for five in quick succession to off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, a slide to 181 for five from the relative comfort of 150 for two in the space of 45 balls. The only bright spot for Pakistan is that Inzamam-ul-Haq is still at the crease on 38, which contained just one four and was accumulated from 105 balls. Shoaib Malik has made six. Two years ago at Dhaka, Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by an innings and 175 runs in the first Asian Trophy Championship final. Sri Lanka’s previous highest total against Pakistan was 479 at Faisalabad in 1985/86. Afridi, who got a life when he was dropped on six at first slip off Nuwan Zoysa, threw his wicket away with a careless shot and started the mini-collapse. Hei had batted with aggression for 170 minutes for his 70 from 111 balls when he jumped down the track to Muralitharan, who got the ball to go straight and leave the batsman stranded. Afridi and Inzamam put together a third-wicket stand of 84 from 127 balls. Youhana, normally Pakistan’s most reliable bat, hit Samaraweera for four and then tried another big hit against Muralitharan but was caught at long-on by Atapattu. Razzaq was trapped on the back foot by the off-spinner after scoring just five. Scoreboard Pakistan (1st innings): 234 Sri Lanka (1st innings): M Atapattu c Akhtar b Waqar 0 S Jayasuriya c Latif b Razzaq 88 K Sangakkara c Khan M Jayawardene c Haq b Sami 68 R Arnold b Akhtar 44 C Vaas c Umer b Razzaq 43 H Tillekeratne not out 19 T Samaraweera c Latif b Akhtar 8 B Fernando lbw b Sami 7 N Zoysa lbw b Sami 0 M Muralitharan b Sami 0 Extras: (b-1, lb-7, nb-8, w-5) 21 Total (all out, 139.5 overs) 528 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-203, 3-376, 4-447, 5-447, 6-501, 7-519, 8-528, 9-528. Bowling: Waqar Younis 30-4-123-1, Shoaib Akhtar 27-4-114-2, Mohammad Sami 36.5-4-120-4, Abdur Razzaq 29-5-82-3, Shoaib Malik 14-3-55-0, Shahid Afridi 3-0-26-0.
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Aussies maintain stranglehold on SA Cape Town, March 8 South Africa were all out for 239 in their first innings on the first day. Australia refused to loosen their stranglehold on South Africa on Friday as the home side staggered through their first innings. At tea, South Africa were 155 for seven wickets, with Andrew Hall 37 not out and Paul Adams unbeaten on four. Glenn McGrath took his wicket tally to three with two quick strikes after the interval. Jacques Kallis had yet to add to his lunch score of 23 when he edged a superb rising delivery to Gilchrist. Ashwell Prince (10) then fell to the same combination, Gilchrist this time diving full length to his left to clutch a brilliant one-handed catch. A crunching pull over square leg for four off Glenn McGrath brought Hall his first runs in Test cricket, and he and captain Mark Boucher proceeded to steady the South African innings, Hall in particular timing the ball sweetly. South Africa (Ist innings): Gibbs c M. Waugh b Gillespie 12 Kirsten c M. Waugh b Lee 7 Smith c Ponting b McGrath 3 Kallis c Gilchrist b McGrath 23 McKenzie b Warne 20 Prince c Gilchrist b McGrath 10 Boucher c Gilchrist b Lee 26 Hall not out 70 Adams not out 35 Ntini c M Waugh B Warne 14 Pretorious not out 5 Extras (b-4 lb-5 nb-4) 14 Total (all out) 239 Fall: 1-15, 2-18, 3-25, 4-70, 5-73, 6-92, 7-147, 8-216, 9-229. Bowling: McGrath 20-4-42-3, Gillespie 15-4-52-3, Lee 16-1-65-2, Warne 28-10-70-2, M. Waugh 1-0-1-0. Australia (Ist innings): Langer not out 28 Hayden not out 17 Extras (w-1) 1 Total (for no wicket, 8 overs) 46 Bowling: Ntini 4-2-10-0, Pretorius 3-0-33-0, Kallis 1-0-3-0.
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After Bedi, Holding doubts Murali’s action Lahore, March 8 Holding this week questioned the action of Muralitharan, the Sri Lankan off-spinner who took 80 wickets in 12 Tests last year and reached the landmark of 400 Test wickets in less time than any player in history. Schaffer told Reuters he was sure the Sri Lankan board would take up the issue of the former West Indies fast bowler talking outside the International Cricket Council’s bowling advisory group on illegal deliveries. “If Holding is member of the review board on illegal deliveries and talks outside the board, I am sure the Sri Lankan authorities will pursue the matter with the ICC,” he said. Holding said in a column for Wisden he was in 110 per cent agreement with former Indian spinner Bishen Bedi, who claimed last month that Muralitharan’s action looked more like a javelin thrower than a bowler. “Murali is human and he will come under pressure,” Schaffer said. “I am sure he is big enough to cope with it. But it would affect any other bowler if someone like Holding made such statements.” Muralitharan, who could well become the highest wicket-taker in Test history, has twice been called for his action in his career, but was cleared by the University of Western Australia and the ICC on the basis of expert reports. He is currently playing in the Asian Test Championship final against Pakistan in Lahore.
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Team for final
1-dayers on March 13 Kochi, March 8 The five-member national selection committee, headed by Chandu Borde, will announce the team during the third one-day international match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here, the organising committee said today. The team had been selected only for the first three one-dayers, Faridabad, Mohali and Kochi, and it was announced during the second Test match at Delhi. The Indian and the Zimbabwe teams for the Kochi match will arrive here on March 12.
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Karthik notches up valuable 69 New Delhi, March 8 With Railways having taken a 390-run lead, Baroda’s hopes of retaining the Ranji Trophy have diminished. Baroda had won the trophy at their home ground last year, beating Railways, though time it looks like Baroda’s turn to be on the receiving end, though they have two full days to bat and make a match of it. Murali Karthik’s 69 precious runs, and his 77-run partnership for the 10th wicket with Harvinder Singh, was the cornerstone of the Railway second innings after the departure of Raja Ali, who had set the stands ablaze with his blazing knock in the morning. It was Murali Karthik’s second highest score in the Ranji Trophy. His best knock was the 79 he made against Baroda in the first innings of last year’s final. This season, his highest knock was 58 he made against Tamil Nadu in the quarter-final. That there was no devil in the wicket and those batsmen who applied themselves could tackle the bowlers well was proved beyond any doubt by Murali and Harvinder as they hoisted a solid 77-run stand for the last wicket. They were unfazed even when the new ball was taken in the 74th over of the day and 93 overall, with Murali on 39
and Harvinder on 19. Murali eventually fell, with just eight balls remaining for the day’s play to be officially over, when he was stumped by wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia off Atul Bedade. Murali’s 69 came off 127 balls, in 166 minutes with seven boundaries. Harvinder Singh remained not out on 34 (4x4, 77b, 111m). In the morning, Railways, resuming at 37 for one, sacrificed their wickets with reckless shots and runout. But Raja Ali was an exception as he played some brilliant off-side strokes to make 66 runs with ten boundaries off 115 balls. He was involved in a 56-run third wicket partnership with Yere Goud. Yere Goud played a reckless shot, when he was batting well, off left-arm spinner Buch to be caught by Rakesh Patel at point. Even as wickets fell at the other end, Raja Ali stood his ground to take the score to 203 before becoming the seventh victim of Baroda. And then walked in Murali Karthik, and the rest was a responsible knock, which may enable Murali to get back his berth in the India team. Railways (1st innings) 253 Baroda (1st innings) 169 Railways (2nd innings): J.P. Yadav lbw b Joshi 4, A Pagnis c Mongia b Patel 39, Tejinderpal Singh run out 27, Y Goud c Patel b Buch 24, R. Ali c Williams b Arothe 66, A. Sharma c Martin b Joshi 9, S. Khanolkar lbw b Joshi 4, M. Kartik st Mongia b Bedade 69, Z. Hussain b Arothe 3, K. Parida c Bedade b Arothe 1, Harvinder Singh not out 34. Extras (b-14, lb-3, w-3, nb-6) 26. Total (all out in 107.4 overs) 306. Fall of wickets: 1/13, 2/66, 3/99, 4/155, 5/183, 6/187, 7/203, 8/223, 9/229. Bowling: Rakesh Patel 31-11-66-1, Shekhar Joshi 23-5-64-3, Ajit Bhoite 17-4-48-0, Valmik Buch 19-6-44-1, Yousuf Pathan 2-0-12-0, Tushar Arothe 10-0-49-3, Atul Bedade 5.4-3-6-1. |
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TN demolish Rajasthan Ludhiana, March 8 Swaminathan was the pivot around whom the Tamil Nadu team revolved and he in tandem with Sivsanker, wove patterns in the rival defence. Swaminathan shooting was impeccable as Tamil Nadu shot into the lead from the first quarter of the match and never looked back after that. As the lead kept on increasing, the lethargic Andhra cagers gave no hint of constricting the margin. At half time TN were leading 47-34 and slackened the pace of the match in the third quarter which enabled the rivals to slowly claw their wayback into the match. However, the Andhra fight back proved to be an illusion as Tamil Nadu started attacking in waves in the fourth quarter. For Andhra, both skipper M. Srikanth Reddy and P. Ramachandra Reddy proved to be doughty defenders but all their hard work went in vain as their rivals closed the match at 95-62. Tamil Nadu are now sitting pretty at the top of pool `A’ and their last league match against Karnataka tomorrow will have no bearing on their standing. In another pool `A’ super league match played late in the evening, Kerala men survived some anxious moments against Andhra Pradesh (AP) before finally beating them 96-87. Kerala changed their strategy from man to man marking they had adopted in their earlier matches and started with zonal marking. This shift in strategy caught the rivals off gaurd as they quickly raced to a 27-12 lead. Madhu John and Bobit Mathew excelled for the winners and both efficiently AP playmaker B H Prasad, their top scorer in the earlier matches. The AP defence comprising of P. Srinivas Rao and G.Chenna Reddy showed lack of skill in containing the rival attack spearheaded by Santosh John. Bobit Mathew and Santosh John top scored with 20 points
each. Punjab’s next outing will be against Railways. Results: (women): Orissa b Chandigarh 39-35, Chhattisgarh b Pondicherry 93-11, Maharashtra b AP 58-32,
Railways b MP 57-36, Assam b Rajasthan 29-01, MP b Delhi 54-39, Kerala b Karnataka 69-53. Men: Punjab b Services 107-105, Chhattisgarh b Pondicherry 77-62, Orissa b Assam 56-30, Karnataka b AP 94-72, UP b Goa 68-26, Delhi b MP 69-42, J&K b Gujarat 79-68, Ralways b WB 94-49, UP b Haryana 84-44. |
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Vikas Prashar, Navjot fastest Jalandhar, March 8 Seventeen districts of Punjab participated in the inauguration ceremony, that included a march past and the torch lighting ceremony. Vikas Prashar in the men’s section and Navjot Kaur in the women’s section, both the Jalandhar, were the fastest athletes, clocking a time of 10.90 seconds and 12.19 seconds respectively in the 100 metres. Jaspreet Singh and Arun Kumar in the men’s section and Malkit Kaur and Shaminder Pal Kaur in the women’s section grabbed the second and third positions, respectively. The results: (men): 400m Ravinder Singh (Ldh) 1, Harminder Singh (Ropar) 2, Amandeep Singh (Ropar) 3; women category: Tajinder (Jal) 1, Akwinder (Ldh) 2, Malkit (Gdp) 3; javelin throw (men): Avtar Singh (Ropar) 1, Bikramjit Singh (Ropar) 2, Sukhdeep Singh (Fdk) 3. women: Kulwinder (Asr) 1, Rupinder (Jal) 2, Amandeep (Kpr)3; 4x100 m (women): Jalandhar 1, Gurdaspur 2, Ludhiana 3; hockey (men): Patiala b Ferozepore 3-0, Kapurthala b Moga 1-0, Faridkot b Gurdaspur 3-2, Fatehgarh Sahib b Bathinda 3-0. women: Ludhiana b Gurdaspur 3-0, Jalandhar b Ropar 5-0, Moga b Kapurthala 2-1; football: Sangrur b Fatehgarh Sahib 1-0, Gurdaspur b Bathinda 1-0, Ludhiana b Ferozepore 6-0, Muktsar b Mansa 2-1, Kapurthala b Nawanshahr 1-0, Jalandhar b Ropar 1-0; wrestling: 50 kg: Inderjeet Singh (Jal) b Ravinder (Kpt), Jatinder (Bth)b Sunny (Pta), Ravi Kumar (Nsr) b Shamsher Singh (Hsp), Gurpreet Singh (Gdp) b Adbul Gfoor (Sgr). 58 kg: Mohd Shahbir (Sgr) b Parvinder Kumar, Rohit Kumar (Jal) b Ishan Ali (Fdk), Sohan Lal (Gdp) b Kuldip (Pta), Janak Raj (Asr) b Raj Kumar (Kpt)’ 63 kg” Om Prakash (Jal) b Lally Gupta (Pta), Sarabjit Singh (Gdp) b Hardip Singh, Shamsher Singh (Bth) b Mandip Singh (FGS), Bahitar Singh (Rpr) b Gurbinder Singh (Moga), Raju (Hsp) b Balkar Singh (Nsr); 76 kg: Hardip Singh (Nsr) b Pardip Singh (Ldh), Jasbir Singh (Pta)b Kuldip Singh (Bth), Raghbir Singh (Fdk) b Gurpreet Singh (Rpr), Gurjinder Singh (Kpt) b Kulbir Singh (Hsp), Vikram Singh (Asr)b Kunal (FGS), Paramjit Singh (Gsp) b Sukhwinder Singh (Mansa); 85 kg: Rajesh Kumar (Grp) b Somvir (Ldh), Rajinder Singh (Mansa) b Gurpreet Singh’ 97 kg: Jagtar Singh (Ldh) b Saleem (Pta), Paramjit Singh (Kpt) b Harjit (Nsr), Jatinder (Asr) b
Gurkirat. |
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Stadium
named after Dhyan Chand New Delhi, March 8 At a simple function Home Minister L.K. Advani unveiled a plaque renaming it the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. Hinting at the lack of ambition among Indian sportspersons to do well in international events, the Home Minister recalled a Hindi poet’s words during an Olympic Games to say: “Kuch ko sona chaiye, kuch ko chandi, our kuch to kansya; Hum Bharatvasi hain, hum ko kuch nahin chaiye (Some want Gold, some want silver, some want bronze; We are Indians we don’t want anything).
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